


Let Me Know

by lancefalconer



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Food Service, Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Character, Coming of Age, Gen, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-06 03:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5400872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancefalconer/pseuds/lancefalconer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke thought that getting through high school and working part time flipping burgers was hard enough, but he didn't factor in an annoying blond stranger barging in and eating all his fries. </p><p>A High School AU where everyone is up in Sasuke's business, but it's okay because he learns the Power of Love (or something).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WOAH, I haven't written fanfic in a long time but here goes nothing. Hoping to update. . . when I can? I've got it all planned out at least. Cool. Nice. Alright.
> 
> This goes out 2 my ninja clan, thanks for screaming about naruto with me always. U know who u are.

The buzz of the intercom had faded into a dull roar by the time Sasuke got a chance to breathe. He’d finally handed the last receipt to the seemingly endless wall of customers eager to get their lunch on. Before Sasuke had started working here, he’d always been annoyed with the frazzled fast-food workers - why couldn’t they just get to his order already, was a soda that difficult? - but even after four months, he had completely reversed his stance. Customers were jerks of the highest order. They treated him like dirt, constantly demanding - and there was nothing he could do to fight back. Instead, he was expected to just take it and take it. It was pretty much the worst. Every day that went by was a day that Sasuke considered telling his greasy manager to suck it and finally be free of the hell hole that was BurgerShack, but something kept him back - namely, the disappointed look he would receive from his brother should he quit.

It  had all started out so innocuously. Sasuke had been laying on the floor, eating rice crackers as one does after a hard day of school, when Itachi had wandered out of his bedroom wearing only a bathrobe, purse, and clutching an heirloom sword.

Sasuke didn’t even know what to say. He had blinked owlishly as his brother swept through the living room, probably looking for his glasses.

“Where are you going.” Sasuke had asked instead of the countless other things that were on his mind - like “why do you  have dad’s old sword when you tell me not to touch it” or “do you know your glasses are on your head” or “why on earth aren’t you wearing pants?”

Itachi just absentmindedly patted the cushions. “Out.”

“Out where?” Sasuke replied, sitting up now. The crumbs slid from his shirt onto the floor, but he’d deal with that later.

“Work.”

Sasuke just squinted back. “You work at home.”

Itachi found the glasses, finally. “It’s a different job.” He held them up to the light before rubbing the lenses on his plush blue bathrobe.

Which - “dressed like that?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brother, who just shrugged.

“I’m modeling for this class. I figure I’m gonna get naked anyway, so why bother.”

Sasuke just furrowed his brow more, choosing to ignore most of that. After a moment’s silence, he just blinked before lying back down and reaching for another cracker. He listened to more shuffling as Itachi looked for his slippers, already preparing to check out for the next couple of hours before he had to get started on his homework.

Itachi stilled. Sasuke stilled too. That wasn’t good.

“You need to get out of the house more. Get a job.” Itachi said.

Sasuke just snorted. “I go to school. I’m busy.”

But Itachi continued. “You just sit around. I’m already working two jobs. I need you to help out too.”

Sasuke stared at his brother, who just continued towards the door, keys in hand. “What are you talking about? I thought we were fine. Who would hire me? Where do I even begin?”

Itachi toyed with his long hair, his expression as blank as ever. “You’ll figure it out. Unless you want to do some modeling, but I think you’re still too young. I can ask around.”

He’d left then, and Sasuke had tried to put it out of his mind - but honestly he should have known better. His brother was never one to neglect an idea once he had thought it up. And that’s how the next week he was driving Sasuke to BurgerShack so that Sasuke wouldn’t mess up his nice interview clothes on the long walk over. Apparently the manager owed Itachi a favor, something Sasuke didn’t want to know any more about than he needed to, especially considering how skeevy he was. Before Sasuke knew it, he was signing a mountain of paperwork and going to the backroom to pick up the ugliest purple and red uniform he’d ever seen.

It had been long enough now that Sasuke was kind of used to it. He worked four days a week, and while his co-workers were. . . kind of weird, honestly, and usually terrible, he sort of enjoyed the camaraderie. Or at least the sense of doing something his brother vaguely approved of. Even if the work was tedious and dirty and the customers were annoying as all else.

Which, speaking of - Sasuke straightened up from his usual slouch as a customer walked through the door. He was young, probably Sasuke’s age and a little short. He was blonde and tan and wearing the ugliest orange camo cargo pants Sasuke had ever seen, but he marched straight to Sasuke’s register.

“Welcome to BurgerShack, what can I get for you today?” He said automatically.

The boy squinted up at the menu. His eyes were really blue. He mouthed along as he read for what felt like an eternity before looking back to Sasuke. “What do you recommend?”

“A burger.” Sasuke said blankly. “This is BurgerShack.”

The boy narrows his eyes at Sasuke. “Okay, I’ll take one of those.”

Sasuke punches in the order. “Okay, that’ll be $2.99.”

The boy pulls out a frog-shaped wallet and dumps out a handful of coins and lint onto the counter that Sasuke would probably have to clean later. Was this guy for real?

After an agonizing minute, he looked back up to Sasuke, his bottom lip jutting out. “I only have like, two bucks. What can I get that’s less than that?”

Sasuke could feel his left eye twitch and he resisted to urge to clench his fists. He peered over the moronic stranger, but they were still alone in the restaurant. Reluctantly, Sasuke looked at the pile of coins on the counter, and then to the menu. After a moment of thought, he turned back to the guy. “Fries.”

The guy grinned, and Sasuke could only blink in response.

“That’ll do then! Keep the change!” And with that he was off to a table in the far corner.

Sasuke scowled as he peered at the pile of crud on the counter. Well. Better get to it.

***

By the time Sasuke got home, he was ready to kill a man. Possibly several. After that moment of brief calm, everyone seemingly had decided to get dinner at once. Sasuke had been completely swamped up until the moment he’d clocked out, and his good for nothing co-workers had kept true to their nature. He’d actually walked into the supply closet to get more ketchup packets and run into Suigetsu taking a nap. How that guy manages to keep a job, Sasuke would never know. But to top it all off, that annoying blond guy had stayed in until closing, still nursing that one order of fries. Sasuke could swear he could even feel the guy’s eyes on him as he left. Weird.

“Are you going to lay there all night?” Itachi said gently. Sasuke sat up with a jump. He could have sworn that his brother had been out.

“No. . . I was just getting ready.” Sasuke said with a grimace. Itachi simply raised an eyebrow and walked towards the kitchen.

Sasuke let out a sigh before getting up to join him. He almost smiled when he saw that Itachi had set out a glass of water for him. Nice.

“How was work?” Itachi asked, gaze fixed on the counter where an empty hot pocket box had been left.

“It was. . . work.” Sasuke grimaced, taking a sip from his cup. He wrinkled his nose. “There was this guy who paid me in like, nickels and lint. Made me count everything myself. It was the worst.”

He heard his brother snort disbelievingly next to him. Sasuke turned to him, waving the cup around. “No - you don’t understand! He couldn’t make up his mind and then he like, made me pick a food for him? And I did because I’m paid to be nice, but he kept smirking at me all night. I felt like I was some like, caged animal. I seriously hate this job.”

Itachi only smiled as he grabbed both of their cups to put in the sink. “You like it, and you’ll keep doing it. Good job little brother.”

Sasuke only furrowed his brow as his brother retreated into his cave of a room.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Tuesday rolled around, Sasuke had mostly put the incident to the back of his mind. He had a lot of other things to be concerned with - now that school was back in, he was having to adjust to not having as much free time. During the summer he’d been content to work part time and slack off the rest of the time, and (not that he’d ever tell Itachi, but) he’d actually enjoyed having something productive to do. With little else to occupy his time, Sasuke was prone to brood, and that didn’t exactly do him much good. But it was a couple weeks into the fall semester now, and while he was enjoying getting to the meat of his classes he really wasn’t used to just how tired he was from being so busy all of the time.

Which was how he found himself napping all the way through his third period and TA period. As it was, the only reason he found himself bolting upright and blinking around sheepishly a few minutes into lunch was the girl standing next to his desk with an ice cold water bottle she had just let drip on him.

“Sakura. . . why.” He tried to muster up the energy to glare.

The girl only laughed, and the sun coming from the window caught her pink hair prettily. She offered him the water bottle and he took it slowly, having to put all of his energy into opening the cap. Why did she always have to close it so tightly.

“Lunch is almost over, idiot. I figured you’d want to at least eat something.” She answered, failing to suppress a smile.

Sasuke only grunted in response. He went to pull out his granola bar from his bag, fumbling with the wrapping before she took it from him and did it for him.

“You’re absolutely useless.” Sakura said in response, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know how you even get to school in the morning, you’re completely dead to the world when you just wake up.”

“Don’t wake me up then.” Sasuke mumbled around his granola. “What are you even doing here.”

Sakura smiled and sat on the desk in front of him, reaching into her bag and pulling out a clipboard with way too many different colored highlighter marks on it.

“The QSA is gearing up for its first meeting! I’m president this year, so I’m here to welcome all potential members.” At this, she pulled out a ziploc bag of rainbow badges and a jar full of colorful hard candy. “I thought if we had some goodies, it might be more incentive for people to join? I mean, the real incentive should be uniting as a school for the cause, and like, socialising and finding community - but everyone likes candy, right?” 

Sasuke nodded and went to reach for the jar, but she smacked his hand away and made an ugly face at him.

“Members only, buddy! Too bad. Looks like you’ll have to join the club.” 

He groaned. “Sorry. I’m not into the whole. . . community thing. Have fun.” He had another granola bar in here, right? Why didn’t he pack a better lunch. 

Sakura only tutted, but quickly looked towards the door as people started to file in. As she got up and to start and greet the other students, offering them a candy and asking them to sign in, Sasuke closed his eyes again.  _ Why did this have to be a club day _ . He could have slept through all of lunch before Kakashi kicked him out. He heard Sakura’s obnoxious laugh from across the room and he couldn’t help but smile, a little. 

Back in middle school, Sakura had followed him around like a puppy. It had been dreadful - the whole school had known that she liked him, but she wouldn’t say anything - and Sasuke absolutely did not return the sentiment. Being around her had been incredibly grating. And then came high school and the whole freshman year debacle - but for some reason, come sophomore year Sakura had seemingly gotten over it completely and now, a year later, they were probably friends.

But being friends didn’t mean that Sasuke was going to stick around. He started to pack up his things, stuffing the garbage from his desk into a little ball. He made his way over to Kakashi’s empty desk and the trash bin he knew was behind it, dropping off his hall pass while he was at it. Ugh, he hadn’t thought this was a club day. Now he’d have to find somewhere else quiet to be during lunch.

Kakashi was weird enough as a teacher that only his die-hard fans dared venture into his room when English wasn’t in session, lest they be subjected to Kakashi reading aloud from one of his nasty books. Sasuke knew this was just a ploy to get students to leave him alone, because Sasuke and Kakashi were like  _ that.  _ Unfortunately, Sakura was also like  _ that _ with him, and he now had to compete with her. 

Sasuke looked around as he walked towards the open classroom door. Sakura seemed to be occupied, so he didn’t bother saying bye. The last thing he saw before entering the busy hallway was a flash of blond out of the corner of his eye.

 

***

 

It was typical of Sasuke and his luck that he saw that same blond jerk the next time he worked. The dinner rush had ended, and Sasuke had been looking forward to some peace and quiet - or at least some good slacking off - when you-know-who galloped up to the counter. At least he knew what he wanted this time, asking for a milkshake and fries. Sasuke avoided his eye as he ordered, even though this guy seemed to be trying really hard to catch his. He thought that he’d succeeded and was free as he watched blondie scoop up his order, until - 

“So how do you know Sakura?” He asked, leaning up against the counter. 

Sasuke blinked and looked around the empty restaurant, hoping for an out. There was none. 

“How do  _ you _ know her?” He countered.

The guy scrunched up his nose. “I asked first, but we go  _ waaay _ back. Like you don’t want to even know.”

“Okay.” Sasuke agreed, staring at the ketchup-stained counter he probably should be cleaning. Maybe he could do that and not talk to this guy. 

“Anyway, I’m Naruto! It’s so cool that you know her. Like, I thought I saw you  at school? In Kakashi’s room, so I was like, ‘yo, Sakura, do you know that kid?’ and then she went into this long tirade about how annoying you were and I thought that was great! Life’s so cool, you know.”

Naruto. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Sasuke couldn’t remember where he’d heard it before. He stared unblinkingly at Naruto for longer than he realized before nodding. “Sakura is great.”

“She really is.” Naruto agreed. Sasuke could only watch in horror as he started to dip his fries in the milkshake.  _ Who does that _ ? _ Why _ ? 

But Naruto seemed content to just sit around and eat his meal as Sasuke stared into space for way too long, five minutes at least. It’s not until a loud family walked in and started to study the menu that Naruto got the hint and popped off the counter, waving heartily at Sasuke before exiting. Sasuke tried to ignore the burning in his ears as he turned to take the order. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whazzup it's been a year. I got a job in food service and haven't had time to write my fanfiction about food service. Whodda thunk.

After that, it was like a dam had broken. Suddenly, Sasuke couldn’t help but see Naruto _everywhere_. Like, it was a little weird. He’d seen a flash of obnoxious orange and yellow on his walk to first period, and then at lunch too. Even when he was on his way home he’d heard a loud voice that could only belong to Naruto. Truth be told, it weirded him out. Sasuke didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed him before. He started to catch the name in snippets of conversation, things that Kakashi said offhand or the various friends that Sakura complained about. He even saw his name on the roster that he helped Sakura color-code for the QSA.

“He was asking about you the other day, do you know him?” Sakura asked after he might have stared at the name too long. Sasuke grunted and continued down the list like he hadn’t paused at all. Sakura just rolled her eyes and didn’t comment, which is why Sasuke kept her around.

But the final straw happened a couple of days after that. Sasuke had been “grading papers” for Kakashi, which meant adding up all the checks and minuses Kakashi had already put on some truly miserable essays. It was tedious, horrible work, but even Sasuke had to put in some work sometimes, even if 90% of his TA duties just involved looking busy and grabbing Kakashi snacks from the lunch ladies. And all things considered, it was a good way to waste the time he’d otherwise be spending staring at the clock.

So it was with great trepidation that Sasuke looked up from a sea of red minuses to an unfortunately familiar head of blond hair poking its way into the full classroom.

“Yo, Kakashi!” Naruto said, baring his teeth. Kakashi grunted and gave him a small salute before going back to his book.

A few students looked up at the intruder before going back to their own books. Even though there were complaints, Kakashi’s mandatory Silent Sustained Reading had had a big impact on students. For one thing, they now got an extra forty minutes of sleep during the school day. That was something Sasuke envied.

“Whatcha up to?” A shadow passed over his paper and Sasuke looked up with a glare. The other boy either didn’t notice or wasn’t phased, as he continued to peer down with a faint smile.

After a moment too long to pass off as anything but awkward, Sasuke grunted. “Essays. It’s confidential, so don’t look.”

Just as he said this, Naruto -- of course -- grabbed the essay on top and brought it right in front of his eyes, squinting. “This sucks!”

Sasuke snatched it back with a huff. “Oh my god.” He heard a chuckle from behind him and turned to see a Kakashi not so subtly hiding his book in front of his face.

“Are you here for any reason?” Sasuke finally asked when Naruto seemed content to just hover around Sasuke’s makeshift desk.

The question seemed to snap him out of some revery, and then he grinned. Why did he do that so much? Sasuke watched silently as Naruto pulled a stack of pamphlets out of thin air and practically threw them at Kakashi.

Kakashi, of course, caught it in one hand while still seemingly focusing on his book. Sasuke was dying to know how to do that particular trick, but no matter how hard he’d stared Kakashi had refused.

After a moment’s pause, Kakashi seemed to take in what it was he was holding.

“These for the Slam Poetry thing?” He asked.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Iruka said he had some extra and you wanted to know. I mean, like, there’s not even that much information and honestly the pamphlets kind of suck but I heard they like, really need people to sign up. And Iruka said you sort of owed him a favor?”

Kakashi sighed before putting the pamphlets into his already-full “in” tray. “Unfortunately, I really do. Tell Iruka I’ll get him some competitors.”

Naruto did a hearty mock salute. “You got it, boss!”

Kakashi dismissed him with a wave before going back to his book.

Sasuke hastily turned back to his paper, pen not having moved for the entire exchange and almost avoided Naruto’s knowing grin.

“See you around, Sasuke! Wanna grab some fries later?”

Sasuke grunted and closed his eyes, waiting for the door to clack shut before he opened them again. He had a blissful five minutes or so where he thought he might be able to just move past the entire interruption and get those godforsaken papers done when he looked to his right and saw Kakashi standing up with a catlike stretch.

“You better watch out, that kid’s persistent.” Were his only words before he walked out of the class. Presumably to the bathroom. Or an early lunch. One never could tell with that guy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, even though it wasn’t like anyone was watching, because it was the principle of the thing.

 

***

 

It was that time of night again. Sasuke watched the minute hand twitch in place on the ornamental burger clock. It had broken earlier in his shift and he just didn’t have the heart yet to tell his manager about it. Sasuke felt like it was a good symbol for how his life was at the moment. He sat and tried to think of a catchy way to say it, because it felt poetic and he was going to start a band someday for sure once he figured out how to play his brother’s old bass guitar.  

Sasuke looked up to the tell-tale squeal of the front door opening and groaned out loud. Of course.

“Yo!” Naruto said sidling up to the counter, because Of Course.

“What do you want this time?” Sasuke asked, already dreading the answer.

Naruto just beamed at him for a thousand years, or maybe a few seconds. “Oh! Uh, nothing. Maybe. Isn’t it time for your break soon?”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “No. I don’t take breaks. Looks like you’ll have to leave.”

Naruto let out a hearty laugh, daring to slap Sasuke on the shoulder. He tried not to let it affect him, but he felt the handprint embedded into his shoulder.

“Don’t be dumb! It’s like, federally regulated, you have a break. Also, you haven’t taken yours yet. So I’ll be over there.” He just smiled at Sasuke infuriatingly and left.

Sasuke didn’t say a word, but did resolve to have Words to Karin after his shift ended. He didn’t need her telling randos all about his personal business. He only had a few seconds to spare for that thought, however, before a tour bus pulled into the parking lot.

The resulting chaos was, to put it mildly, the worst form of torture that Sasuke had ever encountered. For some godforsaken reason management insisted that he stay on register for the entire rush.

(Sasuke had, once, asked Orochimaru _why on earth_ and had received only a wink in response. He’d kept all interactions to a minimum after that.)

He felt his voice start to shake and his legs were surely going to give out at any moment. Fanny pack after fanny pack swam through his vision, until an evil red-headed angel tapped him on the shoulder.

“I’m taking over, sweetcheeks. You get a thirty today.”

Sasuke just wrinkled his brows. “But I’m only on a five-and-a-half?”

Karin just tossed her hair over one shoulder and scoffed. “You’re on a thirty, don’t question me, just do it.”

Sasuke certainly wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if he could feel Karin’s eyes on his butt as he grabbed a water cup and walked into the throng of customers.

He took one look at the crowded seats and started to walk out the front door when he felt a hand grab at his.

“Hey! You’re eating with me!”

Sasuke felt himself being tugged into a booth across from Naruto.

“You’re still here?” He asked.

Naruto seemed to take his question as encouragement. “Of course, dude! I said I would! Man, you guys get super packed huh? I never would have thought. I mean, it’s so _pricey_ here.”

“Our most expensive menu item is like, $3.99.” Sasuke replied. Was he for real.

Naruto just rolled his eyes. “Okay, mister moneybags! Whatever! Why aren’t you eating? Is that lemonade? Can I have some?”

Sasuke just handed his cup over and watched incredulously as the other boy gulped down his hot pink beverage. “I. . . wasn’t hungry.”

Naruto just wiped his mouth on his hand and rolled his eyes. “Uh, DUH you’re hungry! You were talking like a madman back there! Don’t worry though, I got your back.” He ducked under the table and rustled through his backpack, before pulling out a packet of peanut M&Ms and handing them to Sasuke.

“Um. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

The two sat in relative silence, punctuated only by Naruto’s remarks on various customers or things that popped into his head. Sasuke was honestly so tired and out of it he didn’t have much to say, and was content to just have a place to sit. Naruto’s presence had nothing to do with it, really.

“But like, okay, I know the guy’s your manager - so you have to tell me. Is he like, you know who?”

“What?” Sasuke asked, pulled out of his stupor.

Naruto made an extreme face of displeasure. “Ugh, don’t make me say it!” Sasuke raised a single eyebrow and he relented. “You know, _you-know-who_. . .”

Sasuke let out a bark of laughter, which seemed to catch Naruto by surprise. “Are you seriously asking me if my manager is Lord Voldemort?”

At this point Naruto reached over the table and clapped a hand over Sasuke’s mouth. “NOT SO LOUD!” He screeched into Sasuke’s face. Sasuke could only huff out a breath of annoyance and avoid eye contact for several agonizing moments before Naruto moved his hand.

“I just mean. . . Is he. . Like, he just _seems_ like he’s like that, you know. He’s got that look.”

“. . . The evil dark wizard look. Right.”

Naruto smiled. “You know what I mean! You gotta keep me updated.”

Sasuke’s lip twitched. “I’m on it.”

The two sat, not quite smiling at each other for several moments. Naruto had really blue eyes.

“SASUKE! GET BACK IN HERE!” Came Karin’s delightful voice. Sasuke sat up with a groan and met Naruto’s eye. “Well, uh, thanks. For the seat.”

Naruto made a flippant gesture. “Don’t worry about it! I’ll see you around, thanks for the company.”

Sasuke grunted and made to leave. He could see Karin grinning at him from behind the register and he tried his best not to have any expression at all.

“BYE SASUKE! TELL ITACHI I SAID HI!” Naruto yelled, and then with a squeal he was gone.

Sasuke paused for a split second, and then turned around.

Did he just say . . . ?

But Naruto was gone.

 

***

 

Sasuke slammed the door behind him as he entered the apartment. Itachi was, predictably, lounging on the couch reading something complicated looking. There were footnotes.

“How the hell do you know Naruto Uzumaki?” Sasuke demanded, peeling his uniform shirt off. It had sprinkled on the walk home and he couldn’t stand the dampness.

Itachi turned a page before flicking his gaze to Sasuke. “Who now?

Sasuke rolled his eyes, rooting through a pile of laundry for a semi-clean sweater. “Don’t play stupid, I _know_ you know.”

“Know I know what?”

Sasuke responded by throwing a balled up sock at his brother. Itachi caught it in one hand and let it drop to the floor.

“You’re such a jerk.” Sasuke said with a grunt, shoving his body into a hoody that didn’t smell too bad. Itachi simply patted the space next to him on the couch and Sasuke shuffled over. “He mentioned you is all, I thought that was weird.”

He watched as Itachi slowly dog-eared his book before setting it down on the couch. “I’ve known that kid for a long time, actually.”

Sasuke was a little floored. “Really? Why don’t I know him, then?”

Itachi shrugged. “I don’t really know. It’s been a while. I’ve only seen him around town.” He turned to look at his brother. “You do know him, though, you’ve known him since you were babies. I guess you just don’t remember.”

Sasuke could only blink. “That’s ludicrous.”

“Mom was friends with his mom. They were nice, I think. It was a while ago.”

Sasuke’s memory of his parents was extremely fuzzy, at best. He let that info sit for a while, not sure how to process it.

“I see.” He said.

Itachi nodded and closed his eyes. “You should talk to him more. You guys have a lot in common. I think it’d be good for you.”

“I’m fine how I am.” Sasuke said, staring at his hands.

Itachi nodded. “You are, but he’d still be good. And I think he’d be good for you. Just don’t shut him out. You’re definitely good at that.”

Whatever, like Sasuke would be friends with that guy. He was just so . . . overbearing. Like he’d made it his mission to annoy Sasuke into friendship. The thing was, Sasuke didn’t like being told what to do. And being told to befriend Naruto just made him want to fight it harder. Why didn’t people understand that forcing relationships was awkward at best and excruciating at worst?

By the time Sasuke looked up, Itachi was gone, the door to his room closed and the lights off. Sasuke made sure to lock the front door before going to bed himself. He had a lot to think about. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wassup its been a year. i don't work in food service any more but tbh it was the best job of my life. big ups 2 the crew.

Try as he might, Sasuke couldn’t stop thinking about Naruto. He couldn’t believe that he knew, of all people, his own brother. The information kept swirling around in his mind, disrupting his normal thoughts. 

It wasn’t that the idea of having a family friend was so foreign to him. After all, he’d known the Hyuugas since he was a baby and he still saw them around today. And basically his whole school grew up together -- living in a small town had that about it. It was just the fact that it was  _ Naruto _ , and that somehow this had escaped Sasuke until his brother had mentioned it. 

He was just so -- so loud, always wearing that highlighter orange. His voice seemed to fill the room, and his hair! Oh god! It was just all over the place, sticking straight up. And who even bleached their hair anymore? Or was it natural? It looked natural. He was tan, maybe he was one of those kids who went out and did stuff in the sun. The sun was supposed to bleach hair, right? Maybe he was into swimming. Was he on the swim team? If he’d been on the swim team surely Sasuke would have seen him -- he’d been dragged to enough of Suigetsu’s competitions with Karin. 

It was just so unfathomable that someone like Naruto could exist and that Sasuke could be unaware of it. It was like he had popped into existence that one night in BurgerShack, and since then he’d been everywhere. Considering Naruto as a person of his own and not some phantom designed to torment Sasuke personally was troubling.

Even his lunchtime routine was interrupted by Naruto’s existence. Generally, Sasuke like to sit by himself at one of the tables taken from the old cafeteria. These tables were wobbly, uneven, and had much of their top surface worn off. They were incredibly gross to look at, and so most students would rather eat someplace else. Sasuke liked to eat here because it meant he was left alone.

Today, however, he was just starting to pack up his tomato sandwich when he was abruptly put into a headlock. 

“How the hell do you know my cousin?” A shrill voice asks.

Sasuke craned his neck to see the grinning face of Suigetsu. Karin stood behind him, pushing her glasses up her nose with one hand, the other on her hip.

“What are you talking about?” Sasuke grunted. He felt the arm grow tighter. “Suigetsu, seriously, can you chill out?”

“ _ Can you chill out? _ ” Suigetsu mocked, before releasing him and collapsing into a chair. “Pfft, you act all high and mighty, but you’re just like the rest of us. I bet I could beat you in a fight.”

“I’m not fighting you. And shut up, I would win.” Sasuke glared. 

“Oh my god, both of you are  _ ignoring me! _ Sasuke, dearest darling baby boy -- how do you know my horrible cousin Naruto?”

Despite his best efforts, Sasuke felt his eyes goes wide. “Naruto is. . . your cousin?”

Karin harrumphed and sat in Suigetsu’s lap. He didn’t seem that thrilled, and tried to shove her off -- but she was persistent, Sasuke knew that from experience. 

“He’s like, my third cousin. Or first cousin three times removed. One or the other. Anyway. I can’t believe you hang out with  _ him _ . He’s literally such a loser. Although I guess maybe you guys have that in common.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Suigetsu and Karin fistbumped. “I literally don’t even know the guy.” 

“Didn’t look like that at work.” Karin practically sang.

“Well maybe you need to change your prescription, then. He’s just an annoying customer. End of discussion.”

Karin pouted at Sasuke for several long moments. “You’re no fun. Whatever. I was gonna give you the deets on how to woo him, but since you don’t even know the guy, nevermind.”

She flounced up and grabbed Suigetsu with her, who continued to walk behind her while glued to his phone. 

Sasuke glowered at the chair they had occupied. Even though they were coworkers and arguably friends, Karin was the most antagonizing person that he’d ever met. He hated giving out reactions to her. He’d show her, though. Naruto Uzumaki was not his friend.

 

***

 

“So we’re like, friends, right?” Naruto said, separating the pickles delicately from his burger. 

Sasuke considered what would happen if he just ran into the back room now, where Naruto couldn’t find him. He looked surreptitiously behind his shoulder only to see Karin cackling from behind the register.

“What makes you say that?” Sasuke asked, finally. 

Naruto began counting off on his fingers. “We hang out like, basically every day. I know your brother. You’re mysterious, I’m mysterious -- we have a ton in common, actually!” 

“How are you mysterious?” Sasuke asked, raising one eyebrow.

Naruto just grinned and waggled his fingers around. “If I told you then I’d lose my mystery! We’re friends now, so it’s up to you to find out for yourself.”

Sasuke didn’t have an argument for that, so he continued to sip his cola quietly.

Karin chose that moment to slide a hand onto Naruto’s shoulder. 

“How’s it going, boys?” she said ominously. 

Sasuke steadily avoided eye contact, instead choosing to focus on the flurry of bubbles up his straw.

Naruto, to Sasuke’s surprise, seemed almost a little embarrassed. “Hey.. just, you know.”

Karin fluttered her eyelashes, managing to look both sickly sweet and a little menacing. “I just wanted to check in and see how my favorite cousin was doing.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “I’m your only cousin.”

“And you’re my favorite! Whatever!” Karin said, pinching Naruto’s cheek with one hand. “Watch out for Sasuke - he’s a heartbreaker.”

Sasuke looked up at her darkly but said nothing. 

“This guy? Really?” Naruto raised his eyebrows. 

Karin cackled. “The stories I could tell you! This boy attracts the ladies like flies to garbage. Honestly, I’m jealous.”

“You shouldn’t be . . . it sucks.” Sasuke said quietly. 

Naruto looked at him and smiled.

Sasuke felt a little winded. Having that smile directed at him… it was a strange thing. 

He sat there staring at nothing for several minutes, failing to notice that Karin had wandered back away.

A chime went off on Naruto’s phone and he stood up, yawning.

“I gotta get back,” he said, sadly scooping up his garbage. 

Sasuke nodded. Naruto squinted at him, but after receiving no response left. Sasuke still had another five minutes on his lunch. His palms suddenly felt sweaty, like he was taking a test. He wiped them on his apron and blinked.

He found himself in the gritty customer restroom. Upon entering, he immediately locked the door. He needed some alone time.

Cold water on his helped him feel better, but he was still a little flushed. He had what his brother liked to call “pasty face”, so anything and everything showed. He hated it as a general rule, but especially now.

“Stop being weird about this.” He looked solemnly at his reflection. 

He could do this.

 

***

 

 

When he didn’t think too hard about it, it was easy. Sasuke could just fade into the background of his own life and sort of let things happen. School days seemed to continue endlessly. Sasuke went to work and saw the same obnoxious customers (and Naruto). He went to school and brooded during class. He graded papers for Kakashi, he napped during lunch, he avoided talking to his brother about anything serious. Just what he’d been doing all along. If he could continue like this, then Sasuke was sure that he could make it through life.

Of course, Naruto  _ was  _ there and that was sort of the issue. Sasuke was aware that the other boy’s presence was alarming to him. It made him uncomfortable, and excited, and a little angry. He didn’t understand it, or maybe he did, but it wasn’t anything good. It was hard to think of someone like Naruto as his friend. Wasn’t he just some guy that hung around? Soon enough, he’d get tired of Sasuke’s monosyllables and go find someone more on his level.

But a part of him that paid more attention to things thought that maybe Naruto was more like him than he wanted to acknowledge. Maybe that’s what the problem was. So often, Naruto would blurt out something that should have been uncomfortable, and if it had been Sasuke saying it then it certainly would have been. But the blond had a way of turning even the most pitiable statements into something to be laughed about. If he could do it, then why didn’t Sasuke? 

It pissed him off that Naruto didn’t seem to take himself seriously, but it also maybe reminded Sasuke of all the times he’d been told to lighten up. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience to hang around Naruto. In a lot of ways, Sasuke felt like he was looking at a better version of himself, and he hated not measuring up.

And yet every time Naruto came up to him, Sasuke felt himself almost preen at the attention, and even though he was always tempted he never said no. Which was how he found himself sitting side by side with Naruto grading mediocre English papers. 

“What’s  _ Siddhartha _ about?” Naruto asked, squinting over Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Didn’t you read this too?” 

Naruto shook his head vigorously. “I don’t think so?” 

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “You’re not sure?”

Naruto scratched his nose, leaning back in his chair. “I mean. . . I’m not exactly what you’d call a straight-A student.” 

Sasuke couldn’t help but snort, which earned a quick flush from the other. “Hey now -”

A knock came on the door, and the gym teacher, Gai, poked his head in. He was one of those weird adults that insisted everybody call him by his first name only. Sasuke couldn’t even remember his surname. Sometimes people referred to him as “Mr. Bowlcut”, but Gai would always just laugh.

“Kakashi around?” Mr. Bowlcut asked. Sasuke blinked slowly, and then pointed towards the supply closet. 

Naruto raised his eyebrows. “He’s been here this whole time?” He asked, almost in awe.

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah, he likes to nap in there.” He watched as Gai nodded, smiled, and strode over confidently to the closet door. 

“Hey, I told you not to interrupt, kid -- oh, hey.” Kakashi said as Gai flung the door open. He grinned at the other man for a moment, and then suddenly closed the closet door behind Gai and Naruto and Sasuke were left alone in the classroom.

“Are they. Uh.” Naruto said, entire face red. 

Sasuke imagined he looked similar. “Can we please go somewhere else?”

The two of them practically sprinted out of the room and out into the deserted corridor. 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT!” Naruto practically roared. Sasuke swatted at him.

“Not so loud, idiot!” He whispered. It was still technically class, but the lunch bell was bound to ring at any moment. He started to walk towards the direction of the cafeteria and Naruto followed.

“Oh my god, I have to burn out my eyes. . . and ears.” Naruto moaned. 

“I do not want to talk about it.” Sasuke answered. He’d always wondered about Kakashi, but . . . Gai? Seriously?

“I would have thought that he’d have better taste.” Sasuke said quietly. 

Naruto roared with laughter. “RIGHT? God, and to think I thought he was hooking up with Yamato! Mind BLOWN!”

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. “Yamato? That weird counselor? What the hell?”

Naruto got a knowing glint in his eye. “I know, right? It seems weird, but I  _ totally _ saw the two of them walking dogs together in the park one day. . . really makes you think.”

He tried to imagine this and failed. Lucky, he was interrupted again.

“Hey. . . you don’t think. . . Kakashi is two-timing him do you?”

Sasuke’s brows furrowed. “He’s a weird guy, but he’s not bad. He wouldn’t do that.” 

Naruto nodded. “Yeah. . . yeah, you’re right. Hm.”

The bell rang, accompanied by a chorus of opening doors. Naruto looked over at Sasuke. The two were still standing in the middle of the hall.

“I forgot I gotta go and help my friend Hinata with a thing… but are you doing anything tomorrow at lunch?”

“No.” Sasuke said without thinking. Oh, shit, tomorrow was--

“Awesome!” Naruto grinned. “You’re coming with me to QSA. Sakura’s been bugging me for ages.”

“I bet she has.” Sasuke said darkly.

“You can be my plus one. We had a recruitment game, and I think if I can bring you then I’ll  _ definitely _ win.”

Sasuke wanted to argue. He wanted to deny Naruto this pleasure, and go back to sulking in some haunted corner of the building at lunch like he normally tried to -- but something in Naruto’s hopeful expression stopped him.

“Okay. Sure. I’ll see you there.” Sasuke watched himself saying.

Later that night he would about that moment, and he would regret -- but at the time all Sasuke could think of was that looking at Naruto smiling at him was like looking at the sun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to all the teens who joined their high school QSAs as Allies and turned out to be gay.

“Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Sasuke Uchiha coming into my room on QSA day?” Kakashi asked, one raised eyebrow visible under his grey hair.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, a favorite gesture, and slunk into the back of the room. He’d had a hard time looking Kakashi in the eye all day, remembering the scene between him and Gai. He wondered if he could get Ino to hypnotize him to erase the memory.

A few students lingered there in the classroom. Choji, a boy that Sasuke vaguely registered as being in his math class last year. A tall girl with sandy blonde hair in pigtails talking to a boy wearing all black and dark purple lipstick. Sasuke hadn’t realized that goths were still around.

The lone granola bar in Sasuke’s backpack haunted him, but with few people in the room the crinkling of the wrapper would be unbearable. It was better to wait, and maybe see if they had some sort of snack situation. Sakura was generally good at that.

He stared blankly at the top of his desk until a thump on his back brought him to attention. Of course, it was Naruto, wearing tie-dyed shirt with a cartoon fox on it.

“You made it!” He grinned. Sasuke snorted and avoided eye contact. Despite this, Naruto took the desk next to him and scooted it over until their seats were touching. A few more people filtered in. A freshman boy who gave Naruto a mock salute. A girl with long, dark hair and blunt bangs. A boy wearing an all-green outfit.

Sasuke groaned. Of course Lee was in this club.

Much to his chagrin, Lee spotted Naruto immediately and jauntily marched over to them.

“Howdy!” He said, flashing one of his signature awful grins. Naruto smiled back, and the two did some sort of complicated handshake. It involved a lot more twirling and kicking than Sasuke thought was strictly necessary.

He slowly bent down to zip open his backpack. More people filtered in.

“Have you seen Gaara yet?” Lee asked. Naruto shrugged loudly.

“I think he might have a Dentist appointment, or something. His siblings are over there though, ask them.”

Lee let out a full-body shudder. “No thanks. They give me the heeby-jeebies.”

Naruto barked out a laugh. Sasuke retrieved the bar and slowly started to peel off the wrapper.

The door swung open, hitting the wall with a bang. Sakura strode in, holding an enormous stack of boxes. Ino was right behind her, a single clipboard in hand.

“Everybody sign in or you don’t get a donut!” Ino yelled across the room.

Naruto scrambled up, and grabbed Sasuke’s arm to drag him along with him. Sasuke’s granola bar lay, half-unwrapped on his desk.

There were more people in here than Sasuke had thought. He knew that Sakura’s little club was doing well, but to be doing this well? He didn’t like surprises, and he didn’t like being wrong. Sakura caught his eye as he got into donut proximity and she walked over only to punch him lightly on the arm.

“Look who the cat dragged in.” Sakura said with a smirk. Sasuke glared, scribbling his name and grabbing a maple bar. Naruto was distracted by all the different donuts, and Sasuke watched as as he grabbed two different donuts with sprinkles and decided to argue with a boy Sasuke didn’t know for no apparent reason. Now seemed a good time to slink away back to his seat.

He watched as Naruto lingered by the others, seemingly everyone’s best friend. It made Sasuke’s skin prickle in a way that he wasn’t used to. Of course Naruto was popular. He seemed like the kind of person that people liked to be around. Sure, he was abrasive, but there was something in him that drew you in, made you want to just surround yourself with him. Sasuke wasn’t used to liking people, especially against his better judgement. But even he could admit that he didn’t hate Naruto. It was a strange feeling.

It even made him come to something like this. He’d been avoiding Sakura’s not-so-tactful invitations for pretty much all of high school, and he’d honestly had no plan of changing his mind. Something about the idea of being in a group bothered Sasuke. Like if he came here, everyone could see under his skin. Or worse, that they would think that they did, and he hated that idea most of all. Someone thinking they knew him and his story when actually they were just projecting their own fantasy person on him. He’d hated that in middle school, when girls would come up to him and ask him out. He’d hated that when someone would assume things about his parents, or his brother, or that he was some pitiable character in a tragedy just waiting to be comforted.

The whole thing just made Sasuke feel ill, like something was crawling its way out of his mouth. So he tried to avoid it as much as he could. But now, here he was, in a crowd of people who probably thought he had something in common with them. Sasuke didn’t intend to let them find out.

“Who are you cursing now?” Naruto said from beside him. Sasuke blinked, and realized that he’d been sitting there with a sour look on his face the better part of ten minutes.

Without waiting for an answer, Naruto reached over to grab a bite of Sasuke’s donut and then leaned back in his chair. “This is nasty ,why do you like this?” He scoffed.

Sasuke grabbed the donut back forcefully. “Don’t eat stuff you don’t like, idiot.”

“You’re the idiot, idiot!” Naruto said, spraying donut crumbs on the desk.

Sasuke was about to come up with an incredibly witty retort when Sakura cleared her throat from the front of the room.

“Hey guys! We’re about to get started. Settle down.”

Naruto backed down with a sheepish grin and fist-bumped Sasuke’s limp hand.

“So since today’s our big recruitment day, let’s all go around in a circle.” Sakura continued. “Say your name, and something about yourself. Ino, why don’t you start?”

Ino stepped forward and flipped her long bleach-blonde ponytail over a shoulder. “My name’s Ino, I’m a Junior, and I am hella gay!”

A lot of laughter from the classroom, Sasuke sat stone faced.

Sakura smiled at Ino. “My name’s Sakura, I’m also a Junior, and my favorite color is pink!”

This continued around the room. Sasuke could feel his palms starting to sweat. So many people were using this game to declare something about themselves. He supposed it must be freeing, to be able to be open about yourself in a room full of people who support you. He still didn’t feel the same.

“My name is Naruto, I’m 16, and I love ramen!”

Sasuke was next. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He kept his eyes on the desk furiously. “My name’s Sasuke.” He said.

A moment of silence. He didn’t want to say anything else. They should just move on. And then Sakura cleared her throat pointedly, and they did. The moment passed.

Sasuke could feel his ears burning and he felt like he was outside of his body. Time seemed to go by in a blur. Some sort of agenda was set, but the actual words didn’t register at all. He wondered why he was here instead of napping, or getting lunch, or sitting in the haunted upstairs bathroom.

He felt Naruto’s hand on his shoulder. The room was nearly empty. “I’m heading to fifth period, but I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” He said.

Sasuke nodded with a jerk.

 

***

 

“I need to stop by the store after this.” Itachi said, one hand on the wheel.

Sasuke sat slumped in the passenger’s seat, one headphone in. Itachi had some sort of talk radio on at the minimum possible volume, only a faint buzzing audible.

Itachi had insisted that Sasuke come with him to work today instead of sitting around in the apartment while the repairman fixed the heating unit. This had meant getting out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9AM on a weekend to go God Knows Where to one of his brother’s various shady part-time jobs.

This one appeared to be at a college campus about half an hour away from home. The parking lot was relatively deserted, and a few crows scattered as Itachi haphazardly pulled into a parking space. Sasuke really didn’t know how he had a license, especially when he was legally blind without his glasses and forgot them 40% of the time.

“So what am I supposed to do for two hours or whatever?” Sasuke mumbled, the first real words that he’d spoken all morning.

Itachi answered with a shrug.

Sasuke grunted and thumbed through his phone. Sakura had been trying to get him into some podcast, but the guy’s voice was especially grating. He’d at least be able to tell her he’d tried.

The two soon came up to an open door on the side of a building. Inside sat around a half dozen or so people gathered around easels. An older woman with purple-blue hair wandered through them, but looked up as they entered.

“Ah, Itachi. Right on time as always.” She smiled. “And this must be your brother.”

Sasuke grimaced. “Hi.”

She didn’t seem fazed. “You can call me Konan, it’s nice to meet you.” She turned her gaze to Itachi. “We’ll begin when you’re ready. Let’s start with a set of fives, and then we can do a thirty and take a break.”

Itachi nodded, this apparently meaning something to him.

Sasuke found himself abandoned in the rear of the room as Itachi took a seat on a raised platform in the center of the room. He took off his bulky coat and replaced it with a flowing silk robe. He was wearing some godawful polkadot leggings that Sasuke was pretty sure were from the kid’s section at Target.

Despite his brother’s fashion sense or lack thereof, the students seemed intrigued at this. Sasuke watched with a bored fascination as they stared intensely at Itachi contorting his body in various creepy ways.    

A guy with long highlighter yellow hair at the back of the room was particularly fervent as he sketched. The charcoal in his hands seemed in danger of breaking, and Sasuke wondered what the point was of that. Sasuke watched as his eyes twitched and something like fury came across his face, but noted that his drawings of Itachi were almost shockingly true to life.

Sasuke soon got bored of watching people draw and turned to his phone. Twenty minutes of sudoku later and a faint timer went off as the room groaned in relief.

“Enjoying yourself?” Itachi asked, taking a sip from a water bottle.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Weirdly enough, Itachi smiled at that. “It’s good for you to get out of the house more. You know, I’m really proud of you.”

Sasuke turned to him, one eyebrow raised.

“I know it’s hard to make friends but it’s really nice to see you make an effort.”

Sasuke didn’t want to know what he was talking about or why it was relevant. “You’re seriously so weird.”

Itachi did another gentle smile and flicked Sasuke in the forehead.

The class soon resumed, and Sasuke found himself pondering Itachi’s words.

It wasn’t like he’d never had friends before. He was friendly with Sakura, and had been for over a year. He certainly knew a lot of people in his class. And he had his coworkers too. But he supposed there was a difference in being civil towards people and actually enjoying them as an active thing. It had been a while since Sasuke had, for any reason, sought out others instead of just letting himself be bothered on occasion. And while he didn’t think that he’d completely changed, he could maybe see where Itachi was coming from. Lately his after school tirades had become about Naruto’s shenanigans, about Sakura’s quest for valedictorian, about Kakashi’s weird teacher threesome. He can’t remember doing much of that last year.

But then again, last year had been rough, to say the least. Almost anything would seem like a big change.

He vowed not to let it bother him too much.

 


End file.
